100 Days Of The Stuart Trio
by Bourbon Rose
Summary: 100 drabbles about Derek, Julian, Logan and their extraordinary friendship. Characters from CP Coulter and her fic "Dalton".
1. Introduction

**Hi everyone :) I decided to do a 100 Days of the Stuart Trio, so here's the first one.**

**This kind of follows after the side story "Freshman Orientation" from CP, where the Stuart Trio first meets. Yeah, I couldn't really come up with something else so I just kind of went with this idea XD I hope you like it :)**

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><p><strong>1. Introduction<strong>

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><p>After the teachers finally managed to turn the lights back on and calm the students—especially the suspiciously snickering ranks of Windsor—the Heads of the Houses were introduced. The Headmaster separated the students, sending each House away with their respective House Head; the Windsors bounding enthusiastically after Howard, the Hanovers calmly walking after Newman, and the Stuarts strolling languidly after Murdoch.<p>

Julian, Derek and Logan were walking together, hanging back in the group, the speech of Murdoch completely lost to them as they made their way across campus.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Derek asked the movie star, pocketing his phone and turning his full attention towards the two other boys instead of his girlfriends.

Logan turned to look at Julian too, equally interested even though he tried not to show it.

Julian shrugged, expression still as bored and haughty as ever. "My parents decided to put me in this hellhole until my awkward stage is over."

"Awkward stage?"

The actor sighed impatiently, flicking his wrist in the air as he explained. "Yeah, awkward stage. The stage where you're too young to be casted as an adult and too old to be casted as a child."

Logan snorted and Julian sent him a death glare. "Something funny about that, Wright? Like _your_parents didn't put you in here for something. I bet they're hiding you too."

Logan glared at him with devastating green eyes. "Fuck you, you arrogant asshole," he snapped.

Julian remained utterly unfazed—merely raising his chin and smirking triumphantly. "I knew it." He looked to Derek next. "And you? Did your parents hide you here, too?"

Derek shook his head and raised an eyebrow defiantly. "No. They just wanted me to have the best education possible, _that's _why I'm here. None of this "hiding"-bullshit—just to prepare me for taking over the world someday."

Logan snorted incredulously and Julian lowered his sunglasses to sent the athlete a skeptic stare.

"Yeah—right."

But then Murdoch lead the freshmen into Stuart House, and the whole group exclaimed their enthusiasm about the rich interior and the various coffee machines on the counters. Julian grew silent, looking around the common room in mild surprise, eyes wide behind his shades. He'd never been to a school before and Dalton surpassed his expectations. Derek noticed his preoccupation and smirked at him.

"What is it, movie star? Never been in a school before?"

Julian shook his head and shrugged casually. "No, I haven't."

Logan tilted his head in surprise and Derek raised his eyebrows at the honest answer.

Murdoch was instructing the group about the common room, the dorms, the rules—but the trio was well beyond listening, talking quietly to each other as they calmly took in the common room.

Suddenly, Derek jabbed his elbows in both Julian and Logan's sides, immediately earning glares and insults which he pointedly ignored. "Hey guys, when Murdoch finally gives us our rooms—what about a movie night in mine? To celebrate our first day of school?" he suggested lightly, just as Murdoch turned around and gestured for the group to follow him.

Logan snorted, pushing away from the wall and slowly striding after Murdoch. "Whatever. Just not anything with _him_ in it," he gestured towards the actor and Julian pushed up his sunglasses, crossing his arms in irritation.

"Asshole."

"Jerk."

Derek rolled his eyes and grabbed Logan and Julian's arms, steering them away from the common room and up the stairs, behind Murdoch. "Okay then, you idiots, movie night it is."


	2. Love

**Takes place after Hell Night.**

**All the characters belong to CP Coulter, of course :) I forgot to mention that in the first drabble, but I think we're all clear on that :P Also, if you like my things, you could follow me on my Tumblr (bourbonrose . tumblr . com) because I have a lot of drabbles on there that I won't post on here. So yeah :P **

**Reviews would be lovely :)**

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><p><strong>2. Love<strong>

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><p>Derek rushed through the hallways, his footsteps sounding hollow as he made his way through the hospital. His body hurt, his vision was foggy and every step he made boomed through his head like someone smashed a hammer on it. But he didn't care. He had to see them. He had to see his best friends.<p>

He skidded around a corner—nearly colliding with an annoyed looking nurse—and opened the door to the ward where he was told Julian lay. When he reached the right room, he took a deep breath before he slowly pushed open the door.

The first thing Derek saw were green eyes looking up at him and Logan immediately jumped from his seat, leaping towards his friend and throwing his arms around him. Derek hugged him back just as fiercely.

"Are you alright?" Logan whispered hoarsely. "Are you alright?" He sounded close to breaking down and Derek swallowed thickly, almost afraid to look at the person lying in the bed next to them.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat, slowly untangling himself from Logan's embrace. "I'm alright. Got a concussion and my head hurts like hell—but I'll be alright. What—what about you? And—and—" he turned towards the bed with wide eyes and he bit his tongue when he saw Julian. "What about him?"

"I'm fine," Logan muttered and he turned around, sinking in his chair and pulling up his knees to his chest as he stared at Julian. "Jules is sleeping. The doctors and nurses say he's going to be fine… but… but I don't know—"

"…why?" Derek whispered as he moved towards the bed and leaned forward to grab Julian's hand. He felt cold and weak and not at all how the actor usually was. Julian's breaths were shallow and uneven, and he frowned in his sleep, like he was having some horrid nightmare. He probably was.

"He's…" Logan shook his head, not able to find the right words. "He's blaming himself. And—and in the Art Hall—Adam—he was holding a knife to his throat."

Derek looked at him, absolutely horrified. "What happened?"

"Adam forced him to tell—to tell me—" Logan bit his lip and he couldn't continue, shutting his eyes as the memories leaped back at him—but Derek understood immediately and his grasp on Julian's hand tightened.

"He told you—?" he choked out. He'd wanted Julian to confess for such a long time… but not like this… this wasn't how it was supposed to be… this wasn't how it was supposed to go _at all_…

"Yeah," Logan whispered and he wiped away a lonely tear. "Yeah, he told me everything. And Adam was holding that knife to his throat the entire time—and—and it was—it was awful—"

Derek stared at Logan as his world crumbled apart, as his two best friends felt so broken and so defeated, as he didn't know how to put them back together again. Would they ever get over this?

Under his grasp, Julian stirred and his eyes fluttered open. He looked feverish as his gaze darted from Logan to Derek. He mumbled something, but Derek didn't understand and he leaned closer to him. Logan walked over to the other side of the bed and took Julian's other hand.

"Jules?"

The actor frowned, eyes closing again as the light was too bright for them. "Hm?"

"Are you—are you alright?" Derek asked.

Julian's frown got deeper and he scowled as he replied. "You idiots," he murmured, fingers curling tighter around his friends'. "Lying in a _hospital_ bed—clearly _not_ alright—"

Logan raised his eyebrows, lips tugging up in a weak smile. Derek exhaled shakily, relieved that Julian was well enough to be sarcastic. He shook his head, his eyes brimming with tears. "God, I thought you two were _dead_… Don't even do that again, you stupid, _stupid_ morons—"

Logan's gaze softened as he looked up at his friend and Julian peeked at him from under his lashes. He smiled softly, his cheeks gaining back some color. "Love you, guys," he muttered, his voice unstable and cracking at the end.

"Me too," Logan whispered, and even though he was uncomfortable with the emotional atmosphere, it felt right at the moment. He felt alright with his friends. His best friends.

Derek stared at them for a long time and he reached out with his free hand, grabbing Logan's and squashing hard. It hurt, but for once, Logan didn't complain.

"Love you guys too."


	3. Light

**Thanks for your reviews, guise! :D You're all so lovely *hugs* I hope you enjoy this one, too :)**

**(Also, if Julian and Logan happen to be together in some of these drabbles, I'm going to announce that in the Author Note :P They're not together in this one.)**

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><p><strong>3. Light<strong>

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><p>The sunlight poured through the windows of one of the Stuart's rooms, streaming over the floor and over the three boys sprawled out over the carpet. Derek scrunched up his face in discomfort as the sunbeams hit his closed eyes and he turned away, eyes fluttering open as he slowly started to wake up.<p>

The first thing he got aware of was the weight of his friends laying practically on top of him, effectively blocking him from getting up. Logan lay sprawled over his chest and Julian was curled up on his other side, both still deeply asleep. Derek groaned—his body sore from sleeping on the ground—and he craned his neck to see the time.

He cursed loudly as he saw how late it was and he turned around to poke Julian impatiently in his side. "Jules, wake up, I need to go to practice—" But the actor just mumbled something about "scripts", "homework" and "tired", and scooted even closer, squashing the athlete against Logan.

"Oh come on, you've got to be kidding me," Derek muttered desperately, barely able to move at all now. He put his hands on Logan's shoulder and started to shove him off his chest. The blond didn't budge, though. "C'mon Lo, _move_."

Slightly dazed, Logan opened his eyes, looking up sleepily at his flustered friend. "Hm—what?"

"Logan—I swear to God—" Derek cursed, using all his strength to try and push Logan away. However, he was tired and he could barely move, so it didn't work at all. "Damn it—I have to go to practice—get off me!"

Logan smirked lazily and shook his head. "We studied until three in the morning, D—it's now five. I'm not going to move anytime soon."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Derek grumbled irritably. "Why did I bother to ask _you_?" he turned his head around and jerked his elbow in Julian's side. "Damn it—wake up, Jules—"

Julian muttered a sharp "fuck you" and curled up more, his fingers clutching the athlete's shirt as though to hold him still.

"Yeah—good luck with that," Logan snickered sleepily. "If _I'm_ not going to move, Julian isn't going to move _at all_," he added, using Derek's chest as pillow as he closed his eyes again. "Goodnight, D."

Derek made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat, and he checked the time again, his eyes widening when he saw he was already too late. "_Fuck_, it's late. This isn't funny, guys. Let me go—"

"Nope," Logan replied, way too cheery for someone who was supposed to be sleeping.

Julian chose this moment to show some signs of life, and he raised his hand to smack Derek's side. "Shut up, D—" he mumbled, covering his eyes in the crook of his elbow. "Trying to sleep here."

Derek sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a moment, spreading his arms out over the floor as he gave up. "Coach is going to kill me."

Julian hummed under his breath and Derek wondered if he was actually consciously aware of what was going on. "Good for you—stay still now."

Logan chuckled merrily. "What Jules said."

"I hate you so much," Derek whispered under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief. He had been studying until late too, though, and his own eyelids were slowly starting to droop as traitorous sleep threatened to overtake him. "Fuck you so much."

"You too, D," Logan murmured, his words slurring together as he quickly drifted back to sleep. Julian shifted, groaning something along the same lines, and Derek closed his eyes and let his head fall back in defeat.

"I hate you both so much."


	4. Dark

**Hi there :D I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm insanely busy and ugh. I hate school and everything ;_; _Anyway,_ I hope you enjoy this one and reviews are lovely :)**

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><p><strong>4. Dark<strong>

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><p>The bright light of the television threw flickering shadows over the two boys on the couch, illuminating their faces and accentuating the fear in their wide eyes. Small bits of popcorn slipped from Derek's fingers and thudded on the ground. The athlete barely noticed, staring transfixed at the screen, where his best friend acted out the scariest fucking serial killer Derek had ever seen in his life.<p>

A horrendously terrifying scream pierced from the television through the room and Logan jumped in shock, popcorn flying everywhere as he pushed back in the pillows of the couch. His eyes were wide as saucers and he exhaled shakily as he turned towards his friend.

"Holy fuck—I hate this thing. _Why_ are we watching it?"

The new scene started and Derek's hands flew to his face, his jaw clenching as he shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know, man—because we promised Jules—?" Blood splattered over the floor and the walls, followed by more god-awful screams, making both boys visibly flinch. "_Ow_, fuck—that's gotta hurt—oh _geez_—"

"The fuck went on in his mind that he wanted to _be_ in this movie?" Logan mumbled breathlessly, jerking back when the shadow of the serial killer appeared in the lit hallway, nonchalantly tilting his head to the side, a freakishly crazy smile on his face. Julian's normally composed expression was contorted in a malicious, deranged mask, flickers of murderous thoughts glinting in his crazed eyes.

And it was scary as hell.

Logan cursed and Derek sucked in a sharp breath when serial-killer-Julian sneaked through the house in search for his new victim, the hook in his hand dripping with old and fresh blood, his steps rigid and uneven.

"_Here, kitty-kitty," _he purred, sepia eyes glistening maniacally as they raked through the empty, dark rooms. _"Here, kitty-kitty—are you coming out to play...?"_

"Oh fucking hell, he's too good for this," Derek blurted out, fingers over his face, his eyes fearfully as they peaked through the gaps. "He's never ever allowed to play in a horror movie again, he's too fucking good for it—_oh my fucking god, what the hell happened to her—?_"

"If he sees us like this, he's going to die laughing—" Logan muttered grudgingly, wide, unblinking eyes still fixed on the television.

Derek shook his head, his face pale as the scenes played out in front of him. "I don't even care, man. Shit, Lo—I'm never going to get over this thing."

Just when there was a quiet scene—a moment of peace before the terror would start anew—the door to the bedroom creaked open, the sound piercing through the room in an awfully familiar setting. The light of the hallway filtered into the bedroom, throwing the shadow of a tall, slender figure over the floor, his head tilted, his crazy eyes glinting in the darkness.

"_Here, kitty-kitty—_" the voice of the serial-killer reached out to the two scared-to-death boys on the couch, tone purring and nauseatingly sweet. "_Are you coming out to play...?"_

Derek could barely stifle his frightened yelp and Logan sucked in a deep breath, reaching out, his fingers digging in Derek's arm. Before they could reason with themselves, they turned around in a flash, scared eyes wide as they stared to the door in fear.

The door opened further and Julian's chuckle echoed through the room, his amused expression clearly visible as more light streamed into the room.

Logan's entire body went slack, his hands covering his face in embarrassment, as Derek huffed and fell back into the couch.

"I hate you," the athlete simply said, his eyes closed as he tried to control his breathing. "Oh fuck you, I hate you so much."

Julian laughed loudly, his eyes sparkling and his face split in the widest grin. He lightly walked to the couch and plopped in it, his sepia gaze fixed onto Logan, who's hands were still over his face.

"So, are you watching something fun?" Julian asked innocently, reaching forward and grabbing a handful of popcorn. "Please, enlighten me," he smirked, laughing when Derek glared at him and flipped him off.

Julian elbowed Logan, raising an eyebrow when the prefect growled a scathing insult. "Oh, touchy are we?"

Logan dragged his hands down his face, eyes shooting fire as they drilled into Julian's gleeful ones. "I'm going to hurt you so badly, Julian. Just—fuck you so much."

Julian chuckled carelessly, not at all impressed, and he popped a piece of popcorn in his mouth as he hummed. "Sure, Majesty. First try to recover a bit, okay? You're not going to hurt anyone when your arms are like jelly."

However, all three of them started when yet another scream pierced from the television, Julian's smirk wavering only a tiny bit as he listened to it. Derek snatched the remote from the couch and punched on the red button, all the light extinguishing as the television finally turned off. The athlete fell sideways, his head resting against Logan's shoulder, and he sighed in relief.

"I'm never going to watch that thing again."

Julian snickered, pulling up his knees to his chest and leaning against Logan's other side. "You're such a wimp, Derek. You too, Logan."

Logan sighed, resting his head against the couch and closing his eyes in defeat. It was silent for a while—Derek and Logan still distracted by the movie they'd just watched, and Julian almost sleeping, comfortably curled up in Logan's side, exhausted from work and stress.

Derek broke the silence, his voice cracking and deadly honest when he grudgingly admitted, "...Fucking hell, Jules, I was _genuinely_ scared—"

Julian's shoulders shook with chuckles, a rich laugh bursting from his lips when Logan hummed in agreement.

"I thought you were going to kill us all. Never do that again, you _ass_."

Eyes closed, Julian smirked mischievously. "No promises, guys. You just need to grow some."

"You arrogant, spoiled drama queen—"

"That's heartwarming, Logan," Julian muttered, planting his elbow in the blond's side, satisfied when he heard Logan's muffled curse.

"Play nice, ladies," Derek remarked, "or I'll put the movie back on."

Logan huffed in annoyance. "_Fine."_

Julian snorted as he tried not to laugh out loud. "I'm happy to be back," he grinned casually, immediately earning loud scoffs from his friends.

"Fuck you."

"Shut up, Jules."


	5. Break

**Post-Hell Night**

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><p><strong>6. Break<strong>

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><p>Julian was shattered.<p>

There really was no other way to explain his current state. Especially not when he dragged himself out of his room every morning, looking as scared and drained as he had going in. How his usually expressive eyes were dull and matted, the skin underneath dark and bruised from exhaustion. How he solely seemed to live on coffee, picking at his food and refusing to eat more than a few bites. How he'd scream in the middle of the night, not stopping, not calming down until Logan and Derek rushed to him and lend him an escape out of terrifying, black nightmares that haunted whenever he closed his eyes.

The actor's carefully built up walls, his carefully crafted mask and composure had finally given away under the pressure. He'd finally cracked, and the sight was absolutely horrifying to his best friends.

The nights in which Julian didn't scream were rare, but even when they happened, he looked pale and sick, like he hadn't slept in years.

Today was like that.

Derek looked up from his books when Julian walked into the common room, his shoulders slumped and his face drawn. The athlete watched him carefully as Julian collapsed on the nearest couch, next to a very worried looking Logan. Derek silently offered him his coffee, and the actor clasped it gratefully, sinking away in the cushions as he put his lips on the edge of the mug and inhaled the hot liquid.

Logan peered at him over his own schoolwork, leaning towards his friend as if he was afraid he might keel over any moment. By the way Julian looked, it wasn't a complete impossibility.

"You look like shit," the prefect stated bluntly, earning an exasperated glare from Derek and a indifferent shrug from Julian.

"It happens," the actor murmured, still listlessly staring in his coffee.

"Did you sleep at all?" Derek asked, closing his book and pushing it aside. "I didn't hear—you weren't awake, were you?" he hesitated, glancing at Logan for support.

"We didn't have to come over," Logan offered helpfully.

Julian's listless stare turned into an irritated one, but he still didn't look up from his coffee. He shrugged again, pressing his lips together. "I couldn't sleep."

"So you didn't sleep at all?" Derek inquired.

"No," Julian simply answered, and he took a big gulp from the coffee. It was black, stronger than he was used to, burning his throat and his stomach. It felt wonderful, but it didn't silence the thoughts running rampant in his head. "Did you know they're sending me mails?"

Logan and Derek glanced at each other, concern obvious on their faces. "Who?"

"The fans. My fans," Julian elaborated reluctantly, swirling his coffee around with a soft sigh. "And people who're not my fans, I guess."

"What do you mean by that?" Logan demanded, concern and a strange protectiveness peaking at the distraught expression of his best friend. And maybe, after all those nights together and after all those intimate moments in which they were hugging and holding onto each other for dear life—maybe after all those moments, maybe they were a bit more than just best friends. Just a little bit more, though. "What do you mean by 'people who're not my fans'?"

"I _mean_," Julian drawled slowly, like he was explaining mathematics to a child. "I mean I get mails from people who think it's my fault, who think it's all my fault. The burning, the students that got hurt, the death." The words were quick, but the blow they delivered was shattering. Even Julian cringed, bringing up his knees to his chest and closing his eyes for a moment as the hurtful mails drifted through his mind again.

Derek's jaw went slack and Logan exploded.

"_What?_"

Julian set the mug to his lips as if he wanted to take another sip, but changed his mind at the last moment, instead murmuring a quiet explanation. "They're just—I don't know—they're blaming me. Which isn't completely irrational, since _I'm_ blaming me, but I guess I didn't expect to find it in my _mailbox_." He was rattling now, fidgeting with the mug and barely noticing when some of the coffee slipped out and trickled over his trembling hands.

"They can't do that!" Logan spluttered, completely out of his mind. "Can't you go to the police for that or something?" he desperately turned to Derek, who was positively fuming but wasn't able to find the right words to hurt these people as much as they were hurting his best friend. "Can you?" Logan asked him. "Report people for that?"

Derek opened and closed his mouth a few times, staring at Julian with a raging expression. When Julian kept gazing at him quietly—so much pain and sadness swirling in his eyes that it hurt to look at—Derek forced himself to calm down. He shook his head and reached forward to clasp Julian's shoulders.

"Jules, listen to me. I'll call Carmen and she'll know what to do. And if she doesn't know what to do, Lo and I will figure it out. Either way, we'll make this stop. Just—don't worry—at least _try_ not to worry. We got this. We'll take care of it. Please take your mind off it, you need a break, Jules. You have too much to worry about right now, we'll worry about this."

Julian's bottom lip trembled and he set his coffee mug on the table before curling up and letting his head fall on Logan's shoulder. "I'm tired," he whispered and he closed his eyes to hide the gathering tears.

Logan immediately put an arm around him, pulling him closer and burying his face in his hair. "I know," he breathed back, his eyes immeasurably sad as they glanced up at Derek. Derek stood up from the couch and moved over to his friends, leaning against Julian as he grabbed his hand and squeezed in it. His expression betrayed the same despair and fear Logan felt, and the prefect wondered if they'd ever be alright again. If the three of them would ever be the same again. Especially the broken actor in his arms, who tried so hard not to scream out in the night, but who constantly lost the fight against his nightmares.

Logan fervently hoped hewould be alright again.

But as Derek and he let Julian lean against them as he drifted away to sleep, hoping against hope the nightmares wouldn't attack him, he knew they probably wouldn't. Maybe after a long time—after everything that needed to be said had been said, and after all the nightmares and fears had been pushed back by happier memories—maybe then they'd be alright. But whether they'd ever be the same again?

Logan doubted it.


	6. Rot

**Oh hey, I just found out I switched two prompts :/ Well. That's annoying. So under chapter 5 is drabble 6, and under chapter 6 is drabble 5 now. Siiiiiigh, life is so difficult sometimes XD**

**But here you go :P**

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><p><strong>5. Rot<strong>

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><p>The wind roared around Stuart House, the rain clattering loudly on the windows, the darkness from outside blocked out by the dim lights inside Logan's room. Logan was sitting on his bed against the wall, his phone dangling from his fingers while he stared absently out of the window. Even though his face was carefully molded in a blank mask, his eyes were raging with burning emotions.<p>

Across from him, Julian and Derek sat on the desk chair and the couch respectively, looking at the prefect with slightly concerned looks. Derek raised an eyebrow, turning around to throw Julian a significant gaze. Julian shrugged in response, but his eyes were hard and cold as he stared unblinkingly at Logan.

The scream fest with the Senator had dragged on for two hours and Logan and his father had both screamed so loudly, Julian and Derek had been able to follow the entire conversation and all the insults it had brought. Despite the furious death glares Logan had sent them, they'd stayed in the room the entire time, listening with heavy hearts as the Senator insulted his son for things even _they _had never heard of.

After a long period of silence, Logan finally moved. He seemed to choke back a sob and his phone slipped from his fingers as he buried his face in his knees, his hands weaving through his hair, making it stick out everywhere.

Julian sighed and after a short moment of hesitation, he stood up from the chair and walked towards the bed. Derek didn't need the actor's impatient gesture to follow, plopping down on Logan's other side and leaning against the wall as he watched his friend breathe heavily in an attempt to control himself.

"Lo?" Julian asked quietly, crossing his legs and staring at his friend calmly, biting his lip as he wondered what he was supposed to say now.

When Logan stayed quiet and continued to ignore the presence of his friends, Julian rolled his eyes and huffed impatiently. He motioned at Derek to try something, raising his eyebrows questioningly when the athlete looked at him skeptically.

_What?_ Julian mouthed over Logan's head.

Derek continued to glare at him, shaking his head at how quickly the actor gave up in his attempts to calm Logan.

Eventually, neither of the boys needed to get Logan talking—the prefect started it all himself. He dropped his head further in his hands and tangled his fingers so tightly in his hair, it seemed like he wanted to stay huddled up like this forever.

"I'm such a fucking rot person," he muttered, self-loathing and hatred dripping off every word, his voice thick with unshed tears.

Derek started to protest instantly, and Julian snorted in disbelief.

"Oh come on, you don't actually believe your worthless excuse for a _father_, do you?" Julian asked, eyes softening as he looked down at his friend. His heart hurt for him, leaping up painfully at Logan's previous statement. "You're not what he says you are. And we all know that."

Logan looked up, his green eyes bright and accusing as he glared at the actor. "Like you've never thought all those things of me."

Julian's face fell, his eyes losing some of their gentleness and gaining some kind of fierce protectiveness. "I've _never_ thought of you as a rot person, Logan," he stated clearly. "Never in my life."

Logan narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't say anything, pressing his lips together as his gaze wandered off to the opposite wall.

"Julian is right, you know," Derek agreed softly. "You're not a bad person, Logan. You make yourself seem that way sometimes and yes, you can be a monumental ass at times, but then again—" he snorted and gestured to the three of them, "—we're all monumental asses at times. And that doesn't make us bad people."

Julian raised an eyebrow at the 'being a monumental ass'-statement, but nodded his agreement nonetheless. "Right."

"Whatever," Logan huffed. "Nobody likes me anyway."

"Oh shut _up_, Logan," Julian snapped, rolling his eyes as he nudged the prefect's shoulder. "I like you—_we_ like you."

"My own _dad_ doesn't even like me."

"Well, your _dad_ is a fucking _idiot_," Julian replied delicately, "so who really cares what he thinks?"

"He's my _dad_, Jules, _I_ kind of care—"

"Logan," Derek interrupted, "what Julian is _trying_ to say is that your dad doesn't know you. He doesn't know what's going on with you, and he just doesn't know who you are. So who the fuck is he to judge you, right? Just—I don't know—try to... try to ignore the things he says."

Logan sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah. Because _that's_ so easy to do," he said unhappily, green eyes wide as they stared into space.

Derek and Julian threw each other look .

"Jesus, I'd almost forgotten how difficult it is to cheer you up," Julian muttered dryly, earning another exasperated glare from Derek and a sarcastic "fuck you" from Logan.

"Okay," the athlete drawled, determined to get Logan out of this downwards spiral. "Do you need us to punch him, or something?"

Logan raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching up in an half-hearted smirk. "Actually, that isn't such a bad idea."

Julian snorted sarcastically. "Yeah, it _is_—"

"And _Julian_ will throw his stupid hamster in his face—" Derek interrupted him, glaring harshly at the source of his irritation as he tried to finish his sentence.

"—fuck you, Derek, I'm not throwing Sonic in _anyone's_ fucking _face_—"

"—and we'll just have to hope that some of those needles will stick in your dad's eyes—"

"—just because _you_ are insensitive_ assholes_ who don't know how to fucking handle _hedgehogs_—"

Logan snorted, actually chuckling as he looked up at the completely disgruntled actor. "Who the hell_ does_ know how to handle hedgehogs, Jules?"

"_I _do," Julian snapped back, turning around to narrow his eyes at Derek. "And if I see you so much as even _look _at Sonic, so god help me D, I'm going to make sure _all_ of your girlfriends meet at the same time and place and I'm going to make sure _you_ are right in the middle of it—"

Derek wasn't impressed at all, merely grinned and crossed his arms in satisfaction when Logan burst out in laughter.

"And what are _you_ laughing at," Julian sneered, instantly turning around to glower at Logan.

Logan smirked, raising his hands in mock-defense. "I didn't do anything, remember? I'm sad, I'm the victim here."

"The only victim here is _Sonic_ right now," Julian muttered, leaning back against the wall and shooting Derek one last glare.

They lapsed in a comfortable silence for a while—Julian still a little peeved, Derek shifting so he could let his head rest on Logan's shoulder, and Logan being considerably more light-hearted and less self-loathing.

He wasn't grateful often and most of the time he really didn't think he needed to be, but he was Logan—honest and blunt and outspoken—so he exhaled slowly and smiled genuinely at his two best friends.

"Thank you, guys."

Derek smiled and Julian's expression softened, and both moved closer to the prefect, squashing him in between them. Julian leaned heavily against Logan, his eyes fluttering close when he melted into the familiar warmth, and Derek punched Logan's arm playfully.

"You're welcome, Lo."


End file.
